Published 11:22 am, Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Seven Lakes' Kelsey Finch, No. 11, and the Lady Spartans are in the hunt for a playoff berth this season.

Seven Lakes' Kelsey Finch, No. 11, and the Lady Spartans are in the hunt for a playoff berth this season.

Photo: Tony Bullard 2012

Volleyball: Youthful Lady Spartans in playoff hunt

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This season is about Seven Lakes coach Farah Holder's skills in the classroom more than her skills on the court.

After graduating 10 players off last season's squad, the Lady Spartans are young and, not surprisingly, inconsistent. But with a little guidance from Holder, they are still playoff contenders.

"It's a different team every day, different challenges every day, being so young," Holder said. "It's fun as a coach because it's a lot more teaching and going over strategy with the players on what to do when, why I call a serve, what that means, so it's nice to get back to teaching the game again."

The Lady Spartans took 19 wins into this week. They were 2-2 through four District 19-5A matches, with wins over Katy and Katy Taylor.

Three of their first four district matches went five sets, a factor of who evenly matched the district's team are this season. They beat Taylor in five and lost to Mayde Creek and Cinco Ranch.

"It's been bizarre," Holder said.

Seven Lakes lost its season-opening match at Dulles in five sets, too, perhaps foreshadowing what was to come. But Holder said that setback prepared her young players for the difficult road ahead.

"They were so nervous," Holder said. "I'm starting a freshman, starting a couple sophomores, and we just didn't really know what to expect as a team. They didn't know how they'd react as individuals either.

"So it was a tough loss but they learned a lot from it."

The Lady Spartans bounced back at the Katy tournament, finishing a promising fifth. They also defeated Travis the first week and later got revenge on Tomball, which beat them twice last season.

The Pearland tournament was tough, but Holder said she used that time to look at different lineups and work on building up the team's depth and versatility, which have helped in district play.

"It just gave them a little bit more comfort in games like last (week) against Cinco, throwing kids in, in spots that last-minute they can play, and they went in and did a great job and stepped up to the challenge," Holder said.

They beat Stratford and Foster, which went to the Class 4A state tournament last season, right before district, but the momentum didn't carry over. Mayde Creek stopped them in five in the opener.

Seven Lakes bounced back with a win over Taylor, then showed how good it can be with a four-set win at Katy.

"We've always struggled with them and to go in and beat them on their home court was big for us," Holder said.

The Cinco Ranch loss last week was tough to swallow, but Holder knows their youth caught up with them. That's something Holder can live with, as long as the Lady Spartans are learning from their mistakes.

"We have to work hard and we have to go up and grab it. It's not going to be handed to us in any way. It'd be huge, looking to the future, over these next few years with this young group … to make playoffs."

Junior setter Sami Hauck, senior right-side hitter Zoe Zeller and senior libero Amy Page lead the Lady Spartans. Page saw limited action as a defensive specialist last year and Zeller has stepped up her game.

"She didn't get to see much court time at all last year so she really wanted to find a way to get on the court," Holder said. "She worked really hard in the offseason and has risen up to be the offensive go-to player.